Kyaung Taw Yar

Kyaung Taw Yar, Pwinbyu Township, Minbu District, Magway Region, Myanmar. Legend tells us Kyaung Dawyar was visited by the Lord Gautama Buddha himself. He is said to have stayed at Kyaung Dawyar for a week teaching the local people he found there about his lives and Dhamma (Buddhist teachings). The pagoda standing on the banks of the Mon River was built in the memory of His stay. On His return journey to northern India, he stopped at Shwesetdaw on the bank of the Man river in the domain of the ruthless hunter Bandaka. Bandaka is said to have listened to the lectures of the Buddha and become a monk, and requested that the Buddha leave his footprint to remind people of his passing, and as a gift for the King of Naga. Kyaung Dawyar pagoda is visited not only by the human pilgrims, but also by fish pilgrims! The giant river catfishes appear in the Mone creek during the Buddhist's lent - July to September - for 3 months. People believe that the fishes come to pay homage to the Buddha. They appear on the full moon day of Waso (4th month of Myanmar calendar) and disappear after the full moon day of Thidinkyut (the 7th month of the Myanmar calendar). Human pilgrims feed them the pop-corn, rice cake and dried bread.